Trump backs Brexit, urges Europeans to ‘reconsider’ EU membership

A Trump spokesperson has reaffirmed the presumptive Republican nominee’s support for a Brexit, claiming he is “very much in favor of countries doing what is best for them and their people.”

“America is here because of its own little Brexit,” the real estate mogul’s national spokesperson Katrina Pierson said in an interview with Sky News on Tuesday.

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“Frankly when we look at the global economy we have to take a step back and reconsider with everything the way it is today financially, globally that countries do need to re-evaluate their own standings and what is best for them.”

Pierson’s comments come ahead of Trump’s planned visit to the United Kingdom. The former Apprentice host is expected to fly to Scotland for the ceremonial opening of his Turnberry golf course a day after Britain’s referendum on European Union membership.

Last month, Trump suggested the UK would be better off outside the EU, citing high levels of migration.

“I think the migration has been a horrible thing for Europe. A lot of that was pushed by the EU. I would say that they’re better off without it personally, but I’m not making that as a recommendation – just my feeling,” he told Fox News.

Trump is one of the few voices in US politics on either side of the aisle who has spoken out in favor of a Brexit. His Democratic rival Hillary Clinton has voiced support for the Remain campaign. Clinton’s top policy adviser told the Observer in April: “She has always valued a strong United Kingdom in a strong EU. And she values a strong British voice in the EU.”

Three republican senators have condemned President Barack Obama’s intervention in the Brexit debate.

During a visit timed to coincide with Queen Elizabeth II’s 90th birthday earlier this year, Obama warned the United States would be in no hurry to agree a bilateral trade deal if Britain was no longer in the EU.

In a letter to the president last week, the trio, which includes Trump’s former rival for the republican nomination Ted Cruz, wrote that America “must respect the sovereignty of other democratic peoples and their inalienable right to determine their own destiny.”